The drop-off in stimulus spending by the federal government is likely to put a dent in special education programs at some New Orleans schools, with the Orleans Parish School Board planning deep cuts in its special-ed workforce ahead of the next school year.

School districts across the country are bracing for the end of $100 billion in spending on public education provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, passed in 2009 during the worst of the recession. As a part of the stimulus, the OPSB received more than $7 million over two years, said Stan Smith, the district's chief financial officer.

Most of the money came with strings attached requiring it to go toward special-needs programs. So the district was able to dramatically boost the number of staffers devoted to special needs children and avoid some layoffs that would have happened otherwise as a result of a budget crunch, OPSB officials say.

But with the spigot turned off, Smith said the district will now have to cut more than 50 of its roughly 500 employees, most of them special-needs workers. He said that will bring the special-needs staff back down to somewhere between 20 and 25 people, serving students with disabilities ranging from autism to speech impediments.

The cutbacks will ripple beyond the five relatively high-performing schools the OPSB runs directly. The workers to be laid off also serve students at the district's 11 charter schools, which receive public funding but are run by nonprofit groups.

"Any time you have that kind of loss it's going to be difficult," Smith said. "But we tried to be as prudent as we could in using this money for initiatives that could be carried out in a few years."

Meanwhile, there's been no extra help for schools from the state. Gov. Bobby Jindal has proposed a freeze on state education spending -- the primary source of money for public schools in the city -- for the 2011-12 school year. That would mark a third year without any increase.

The state's Recovery School District, which has overseen most New Orleans schools since Hurricane Katrina, has not released any details of its budget for the next school year, so it is unclear how many positions -- if any -- the district will eliminate.

But RSD Superintendent Paul Vallas said he doesn't expect significant layoffs as a result of stimulus cash running out. Vallas said the RSD has used stimulus money to keep some special-education staff for longer than it would have at the 20 or so schools that it still administers directly. But the RSD has already been reducing staff as it transitions more students into independently run charter schools.

Unlike the OPSB, the RSD is not responsible for providing special-education services at its more than 60 charters. Each charter that falls under the RSD is considered its own school district and makes its own spending and hiring decisions. Vallas said the RSD as a whole took in close to $7 million in stimulus money, with nearly $3 million going toward its direct-run schools and the rest flowing to charters.

Caroline Roemer Shirley, executive director of the Louisiana Association of Public Charter Schools, said she hasn't heard from members in the city about any looming cutbacks.

OPSB officials say the cuts won't affect essential programs.

"Of course it's a loss," said Rosalynne Dennis, the OPSB's executive director of exceptional children's services. "It would be nice if we could get it again, but we're not. People were told it's a two-year job."

She said programs like Positive Behavior Support, a system designed to help teachers manage students' conduct in and out of the classroom, are likely to fall under the budget axe. But she said the district will be able to maintain more essential services, like speech pathology to assist students with language disorders

The district hasn't decided exactly which staff members to let go yet. It will be reviewing positions supported by stimulus money during its budget processes over the next few months. Because the OPSB follows state guidelines as far as hiring and firing, it will have to give preference to more senior staff. And that could mean allowing employees with more years under their belt to bump others.

Officials running the district will also need the OK of Orleans Parish School Board members. The superintendent's office plans to ask Tuesday for their approval to start the processes of reducing staff, and the board will approve a final budget some time in June or July.